NBD can, as this thread alone would clearly demonstrate if that were needful, also stand for "New Bag Day." And so today proved to be.

I started off by going to REI, where I had not been since before obtaining the Probable Peugeot. Indeed, the last time I was in the Berkeley REI, I was pushing a walker and barely made it up the three stairs to the sales floor. While the nice salesman was very nice, and understood perfectly what I was seeking in footwear, (a bit softer than 5-ten Freeriders, which I have and love, but thery're a bit too stiff for every-day wear on and off the bike,) they didn't have anything he thought would work in the bike department, and Shoes was totally slammed... like 7 customers and 2 dudes. It's not like I'm barefoot... shoes can wait.

I did end up picking up a light set, NiteRider Micro 900 front / Vmax+ 150 rear.

Then I decided to ride to downtown Oakland, with King Kog as my destination. They're cool cats, and if I land the apartment I'm trying to get, they'll be my LBS, so why not get started on the relationship now?

To that end, this was obtained:



A PNX Clasic Series stem bag.

I've never tried a stem bag before. The explosion in bike baggery happened after I was out of the sport, and even as I was coming back in and digging on all of it, I wasn't really in a position to try any of them out. But that's all changing now, at least for now, so I'm getting into that scene. And the Bay Area is a great place to check out cool ways to attach things to your bicycle.

Plus, the Probable Peugeot PKN-10 only has bottle braze-ons on the downtube, and even if there were any on the seat tube, my u-lock would block 'em.

Plus plus, I think it looks rad with the bestickered flat blue frame.

The other change I made was to swap the old, worn, crappy, simultaneously-dried-out-and-squishy brake pads for some Yokozunas I got from Rivendell yesterday. Needless to say, a big, big win.

(And whoever invented the eyeball washers on modern brake pad posts deserves a friggin' statue somewhere. Centerpull squeal? No BFC. No bending. No cursing... No excuses. Put the cardboard the pads came on between the rear of the pad and the rim. Pull calipers tight to rim and cardboard. Align pad with tire & rim. Tighten pad mounting nut. Toe-in set. Done.)

--Shannon

make certain you tie those shoelaces ASAP before riding.

Good lookin' out, Rev! Fortunately, I'd just gotten home from the ride where I bought the bag, so the shoe was freshly untied.

Got some Crank Bros shoes incoming, they have a lace holder... We'll see.

--Shannon

The PPPKN-10 keeps accumulating bits for when I have the tools, space, and other bikes to begin turning it into the bike I want it to want to be.

Also, I keep riding to cool Bay Area bike bike shops that I had walkered my way to back in Spring when that was the best I could do, and then I keep giving them the money that I wanted to give them then but didn't have.

The cross-product of these two trends today was these rolls of Newbaums from Scenic Routes SF, a very cool community bike shop on Balboa in the Inner Richmond:



They will be used in a double-diamond weave, to go with all this:



And, given that we've long since exceeded what my favorite, brilliant, crazy, late Uncle Craig used to call "the heighth of ridiculosity," I'm even considering reversing the weave on opposite sides of the bars, and maybe going solid above the brake levers. Opposites, of course. There's also two practical considerations there: one, doing the levers is... interesting; and, two, I've got a pair of Redshift bar-top grips I want to try, and the diamond wrap already eats tape like a 13-year-old boy eats pizza.

I think it's gonna look cool. Big shout-out to the lovely people at Scenic Routes, for helping me pick the colors and for just being generally awesome. They also build rad conversion bikes and have them PC'd and logo'd with their own fake branding. Like I said, just cool cats.

--Shannon

This is still a fun read. I've always been envious of the west coast bike culture made possible by your climate.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the PPPKN-10 is currently wearing the drive-side half of a Sugino VT, set up as a 48/34 double. The other arm is an SR, and I have no clue what the bottom bracket is. The guy who built the bike says it's English and went right in, this forum says it should be Swiss, and I don't have a clue. The mismatched crankarm thing is driving me nuts, though.

So I'm looking for a replacement. In my box-o'-parts, currently in storage in Eureka, I have the Sugino RT double and bottom bracket that came on my 1985 League Fuji, (also in storage in Eureka,) which I removed when I triplized it. Today, on the List of Bay Area Dudes Named Craig, I came across a Sugino XD600. In the box, although claimed to have been mounted once. 46/36/26, which isn't great, but if I combine rings from both cranks, I can make a 48/34/26.

And 48/34/26 x 12-32 8-speed sounds pretty sweet for these East Bay hills. 22 - 108 inches, and all the duplicate gears are between the 26 and the 34. So, if one wished to do something so perverse, one could ride it as a 48/26 double, running on the 48 down to the 48x24, (54 inches, or about 13 mph at 80 rpm,) then banging out a triple-double shift, 48x24 to 26x16. (48x28 to 26x16 is a smaller shift, 8% vs 23%, but it seems much harder to do, being a quadruple upshift in the rear instead of an already-tricky triple. At least both lever are going in the direction of slacker cable.)

Likewise, used as a triple, the 48/34 is the same 2.5-step alpine I'm running now, but with two bail-out gears just a double shift away. (34x32 to 26x28, a 14% downshift right when it would be most nice to have... when I'm dying.)

I'd like to find a 26t Biopace ring for it... the 48 that's on my bike now is a Biopace, and I'm liking it a lot, in very subtle ways that might not be real. And 26s are plentiful. No Biopace 110x34s, though, the smallest is a 36. The rings on the XD are round anyway, so I'd have to buy two rings to go full Biopace, and 48/36 is overlap city with the 12-32. Like, almost every gear is duplicated on the other ring. One of the worst gear charts I've ever seen.

Even 46/36 looks pretty dumb. If insisted on having all rings be Biopace and having a gear chart that isn't stupid, the best bets would be 46/38 (1.5-step), 44/36 (1.5) or 50/36 (2.5). And the 44 was a middle. I'd just flip it around if it was round, like I did the the 45 on my Fuji, but I don't know what that would do to a Biopace ring.

The 44 does work as a middle ring in a 48/44/26, which I am now finding very tempting... I really like the 45/42/30 x 14-26 on the Fuji. (Special case, trying to get wide range with a 1980 Superbe rear derailleur.) And there's a double FD on the bike now, a cheap-o Campy 980.

Since the rear derailleur is an 11-speed 105 long cage, and the front's a Campy 980, there's a decent chance that this will just work. If the chain doesn't drag the FD in any gear I'd ride in, which:

• It shouldn't unless I'm a moron.
• If (when) I'm a moron, it'll make ugly noises and I'll stop trying to make it do that and I won't break my bike and crash.

Then I'll decide whether I want a 48/34/26 2.5-step B-n-n, (Biopace-normal-normal), which is what I'd have without buying any chainrings, or if I'm going chainring fishing in the Bay of E.

Stay tuned!

--Shannon

Does the 26T BioPace bolt to the 74BCD inner mount points? I'm guessing it does but in your lengthy post I don't see the BCD mentioned for the 26T. I believe I can assist with one if it is a 74BCD.

"No Biopace 110x34s, though, the smallest is a 36."

I believe the smallest Biopace ring that will fit a 110-mm bolt circle is a 42.

Okay, how about a NIP Shimano BioPace 26T 74BCD?

And for the curious who wonder what's all the fuss about? Straight from the horse's mouth.




Alright Shannon, what say you?

I think you meant a 130BCD. I'm pretty certain there's a smaller than 42T for the 110BCD, but I could be mistaken.

So where is that Box O' Crap sticker?

I think its Ok to call it a Peu. Peugeot till proven otherwise. And as for a bike name, how about "Phénex" the french word for Phoenix. As it has risen from the ashes of the Ole Parts Bin....




Phenex Down Tube Bumper Sticker Decal - jas

Say I, "That looks like marketroid-speak, but I do think I know what the ring is doing. Maybe."

And what that thing is, is that, on long, steady-state efforts, like the 3-ish% slopes that all of the roads in Berekely and north Oakland seem to have no matter which direction one goes, or into a moderate wind, (ditto and ditto,) my smooth, steady RPM cadence feels a bit smoother and steady-RPM-er. It's not exactly like "1/3 to 1/2 a gear higher," but that misses the point far less than you'd think.

Since I didn't seem to get the Sugino, or at least dude never returned my email, this will have to wait. I might try it on the 45/42/30 that's on my Fuji when I get it back. (That drivetrain breaks so many rules without effort or consequence that, you know... what's a couple more teeth?) I don't think Shimano ever made a 30t Biopace ring.

Like I said, I'm-a like-a da Biopace. Enough that, if I ever build another 1xN bike, I'll use a Biopace ring. (I strongly suspect that Biopace would really pay the bills in a 1x setup.)

--Shannon

In actuality, I have a frequently ridden BioPace equipped road bike, my Schwinn 974 Aluminum. The crankset is a tri-color 600 geared at 53-42 in 130BCD. I like it and can feel the very subtle BioPace effect as I spin along. My only gripe is that my old legs prefer a 50T or 51T when spinning, and BioPace didn't come in those numbers in the 130BCD version.

I end up using my lower geared cassette sprockets, i.e. big-big or next to big-big, which is not ideal. Maybe I need to build a cassette which is something like 15-20-22-24-26-28. Yes, I realize the 110BCD BioPace did come in 50T, but not in the matching 600 tri-color.

My BioPace Beauty modeling my leather Italian Flag homemade saddlebag.

ShannonM maybe I missed it: what are you looking for in a crankset? I may have what you need. I have a huge collection of used cranksets that I've been meaning to move, most 170mm length, a few 175mm. Some are double, some triple. Some have pins-and-ramps, some don't.

That is super rad, and a bit humbling. (If you knew me, you'd know that even "a bit" is a lot of "humble" for me.) Thanks so much!

Going to have to figure out how to get this printed... this simply must go on my bike.

Thanks so much,
--Shannon

Here is a link to the method I have been using see #125: Decal Logo Knockoffs

Here is an .svg copy of the file. That way you can enlarge it without it getting pixelated: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2d3hm...=68e6lf2g&dl=0

The other option is to get it printed using a vinyl decal service. Those last a long time. Do note that I have had great success using Helicopter Tape or Clear Gorilla Tape and a Laser Printer...

Dude, you freakin' rule!

I think that I now know what this bike will be when I get it all painted and stuff.
"Brand": Inconnu. French for "unknown." This has always been the name in my head ever since I confirmed that the bike is French. In wherever in my cranium the Bad Ideas come from, this is in the Peugeot font, in orange, because the bike will have the sky blue / bright orange color scheme. I like that your "Phenex" is in the font of the Motobecane Grand Whatevers.

If I take this to be the model name, it emphasizes the whole "unknown French sporting road bike" thing... which is what I love about the bike. And I can display this piece of awsomeness... which is what I love about this forum!

--Shannon

Let me know what ya want and I will try to match a peugeot font to it. I already have a motobicane font that is pretty close. The inconnu brand is pretty popular too...

https://industry.notjustalabel.com/inconnu-0

Cross used to have a nice fountain pen called the Inconnu.

On another note Phoenix might not be such a good choice. It is the French word for Phoenix but its also the name of a 17th century Goetic Demon in demonology. Its not such a good name after all. Unless your going Goth...

I've been a metalhead since I bought Dio's The Last in Line in 1984. I was 10. So "unknown, but maybe a demon" is pretty rad. I even have one of the pentagram head badges from Crust bikes in the Collection of Cool Bike Crap.

The overall look I see in my head is like this, but also funner and wackier:


But definitely that oh-so-French sky blue metallic, or something similar... there's a factory car paint that's close, I'm sure. And then the "Inconnu" in this font, in a nicely contrasty orange. Kind of a Gulf Le Mans Porsche 917K, at least in inspiration. And now your Phenex will be on the top tube rear. Plus some other things TBDL. I haven't decided on lugs yet, but I'm leaning towards lining in black. (Orange lug lining would be way too much, IMSHO.)

Or maybe a darker blue, with screaming pink lettering to match this:


If only they made it in a 45/28... this 42/26 is tempting enough with the 12-39 9-speed...

--Shannon

New bits on old bikes are cool!

A Jack the Bike Rack Came For Me in the Post Today. After mounting it on the PPPKN-10, which was a fiddly thing the 1st time around, I strapped the Velo Orange Mini Rando Bag to the platform. On which it looked ridiculous.

So I went down to ILE, to see if their small Porteur Rack Bag would fit. Alas. It really wanted to, but the buckles were all in the wrong positions for the strap slots on the rack. Which they wouldn't have fit through in any case. So, dejected, but with $150 still resting comfortably in my bank account, I decided that my original idea had been the best idea, and put a Wald 137 on it. I had hoped for the half-height one, but Blue Heron Bikes didn't have one. What they did have, however, was a black standard 137 that was marked down 17 bucks because it was supposedly damaged. The manager dude said they'd gotten a break from the distributor because of paint flaws, but if there were any, they were too small to even notice, let alone to matter.

The Wald fits on Jack the Rack like he was designed for one. (Which, for all I know, it was.)




The basket, being semi-permanently attached, does defeat Jack the Rack's portability. But on a bike like this, (or my Fuji, for that matter,) which hath not front eyelets, it probably still makes sense to spend $99 + tax & shipping for this, rather than more money for some kind of kluged-together front rack setup involving p-clamps and profanity.

So this is how Madame looks now:


There's a cockpit re-do coming soon. That will be with:
TRP RRL levers, (non-drilled, black, on sale at Performance)


Compressionless Jagwire Pro cables & housings, in orange. (The orange is a pretty close match to the "BLG" sticker on the top tube.)


and wrapped with BTP Bart Tape's "Woven Tribal Light" bar tape:


I'm pretty sure that, so long as I don't screw up too badly, it's going to look rad.


I'm figuring I'll be able to get two grocery bags in the basket, and one in the Barley. Which, since I live alone, should be plenty for a few days.

I'll have more pix after I redo the bars and crankset. (I bought a complete Sugino XD600 for 60 bucks. 46/36/26, which is Overlap City on a 12-32. I'll be putting on the 48 and 34 from the mismatched crankset that's on the bike now. I'd like to keep the 26, so long as the bottom bracket and front derailleur allow. If not, I guess I'll have to live without... I bought it for looks anyway.

--Shannon

On the parts front, I ordered a Sugino XD600 crankset from a new parts seller here in the Bay Area, Bikebox. Niko, the proprietor, seems a good dude. Overall, I was quite pleased and would recommend him. He's just getting started, so there was some teething, but nothing aggravating.

The 46/36/26 made a really, really terrible combo with the 12-32 8 speed cluster. Just a total hash of duplicate gears, 3-4% jumps next to 10-14% ones, if a drivetrain can do something wrong, this does it. So I got to sliding the sliders around on the graphical gear calculator, and I came up with this:


a 48/39/26 1.5-step + granny. Technically, I'm 4 teeth past the long-cage 105's 39t of wrap, but in reality, I'll never shift into the 26x12-16 on purpose, and if I do it by accident, it'll just make noise and maybe drop the chain. I've never had a 1.5 step before, but given my love for my half-step Fuji, and my strong like for the 2.5-step alpine that's on the PPPKN-10 now, I suspect I'm going to dig it. The only weirdo thing was that, while you'd think that 110 bcd, 5-bolt 39t chainrings would be everywhere, they're actually rather hard to find. An un-ramped-and-pinned Dimension was the only one I could find, and only in black. And it was 35 bucks, which seems like about 10 more than I was expecting.

Oh, well. It'll get here about the same time as my new bar tape, and then I'll schlep the whole mess over to a shop that lets me use a workstand and tools, for a small fee. Bars, brakes, cranks... maybe a front derailleur, if the Campy 980 throws a fit over the triple. Sometimes double FDs play nice with triples. Sometimes they don't. I've never been able to predict it... I suspect that it's a tolerance-stacking phenomenon.

--Shannon

And now for part 2 of the PPPKN-10 update: The rack and basket. I ran my 1st little errand with it on the bike... I ran down to the Ace Hardware to get a flathead screwdriver to hold the hidden 5th chainring bolt on the Sugino, so I could get it cleaned up.

Short Version: I think it's a win. There is some affect on the low-speed handling of the bike, but that's not unexpected given the ~60 mm trail and drop bars. It seems like I'll adapt pretty quickly. Other than that, the basket is off to a good start. I carry a purse, (no, it's not a satchel, or a man-purse, or, Gods forbid, a "murse." I'm a friggin' dude, and it's a friggin' purse,) and "toss it in the basket, maybe pull the net over, maybe not, ride away" is a pretty nice workflow once I get used to it. And that's really the only other downside. (Weight is a given, and the setup isn't light.) The way you use the basket on the bike is really different. Even to a handlebar bag, which I've had on the bike since the day after I got it. Things that I'd programmed in, like what to do with my phone & wallet, or where the bag was relative to the rest of the cockpit, or to my hands. Knowing if my stuff was secure, and what to do if it wasn't. All that has to be relearned, and it's hella awkward.

But, as I said, I think it's a win. With the basket and Barley, which totally doesn't sound like a pub for alt-cycling urban bike dorks, I can get 3 bags of groceries back home, over less than 2 miles, and that's enough to see old, single me through 2-3 days. (Especially since, given I don't drink, there shouldn't be much glass.)

--Shannon

Yeah a basket is nice. My commuter has one on the rear. I carry a backpack almost every day. I toss it in the basket. Though I know the bag is not likely to fall out, I secure it with a bungee cord. It would be nicer to have the basket in front, but this bike does not like a front load. Maybe I should get a French bike. They like front loads.

Today's verse in the Saga of the Probable Peugeot PKN-10 is about a crankset, and a chainring, and what I'm going to do with them.

The crankset is a Sugino XD600, which came to me as a 48/36/26, which makes no sense at all with the 12-32 8-speed cassette that's on the bike... literally every gear that can be a duplicate is. So what I decided to do was to swap the 36 for a 39 and use the 26 to fill in the low end, going from a 2.5-step alpine double to a 1.5-step + granny triple.

Visually, from this:



To this:


I have a feeling I'm going to like this better. The 2.5-step is a great way to maximize range on a double, without weird parts or stupid shifting, but I'm beginning to think that it needs indexing to really shine. The triple-double upshift off the 34, especially, is a bit of a pain with friction bar-ends. Plus, I've never had a 1.5, and the people who build them seem to like them quite a bit, so I have hopes.

Now I'm just waiting for my BTP bar tape and I should be good to go for the big redo!

--Shannon

Months ago, I found these TRP RRL brake levers on sale at Performance. The Shimano 105SC levers that were on the bike when I bought it are every bit as good as every other aero brake lever Shimano's made since 1986. They also, because they're Shimano 105SC, haven't aged well.

I've always wanted to try the TRPs, but I hadn't been in a brake-lever-changing mood in a long time, and the $90+ price tag was a bit of a disincentive. But 60 bucks and a different bike is a 'nuther matter.

I'd also never been happy with my attempted diamond weave. It came out looking like crap, my hands don't get along with raw cloth tape anymore, and the light blue showed dirt if you sneezed. So I sought, and so I found. BTP Woven Bar Tape in the "Tribal Light" pattern, to be specific.

And it just had to have orange housing. So a set of Jagwire Pro cables got tossed in the cart.

Levers and cables went on yesterday. Suntour barcons made this even more of a pain in the keister than it usually is. Oh, and the centerpull brakes had to make their contribution. But I did git 'er done, so this morning I took it out for a check ride. With the weirdo lever shape and the weirdo bend of the weirdo 3TTT "dirt drop"-style bars, they took a bit o' fiddlin' before I was happy with them.

And here's the result:




--Shannon